Night Jump

[JENNR8R 0]

I'm going to make my second night jump on Saturday. The first time I only had one glow stick on the top of my helmet. This time I'm bringing five...one for each extremity and one for the helmet. The instructions say the glow sticks take several minutes to illuminate fully. I should activate them on the ground.

How do you attach them to your body?

How do you keep them from glowing on the plane ride up?

What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy
ones? -- Monday.

[jimmytavino 16]

Ques. # 1 Gaffer Tape over the ends of the stick
.......( edit to add ) actually tape right around your arm or leg, Keep it loose, but one and a half wraps or more so the ends of the tape overlay,, will keep the sticks with you through freefall better than just taping the stick to the jumpsuit,,( but you knew that...
Ques. # 2 Gaffer Tape over the whole stick.... peeled off just prior to exit.
p. s. find someone who has a glow in the dark galaxy alti. that you can borrow... they are soooooo perfect !!! for nite jumps.
jmy

[JENNR8R 0]

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Ques. # 1 Gaffer Tape over the ends of the stick

Ques. # 2 Gaffer Tape over the whole stick.... peeled off just prior to exit.
p. s. find someone who has a glow in the dark galaxy alti. that you can borrow... they are soooooo perfect !!! for nite jumps.
jmy

What is Gaffer Tape? Is it similar to duct tape?

I did use a glow-face Galaxy on my first night jump. I couldn't read the numbers under 1,000 feet....maybe because I'm old or maybe because it was January 1 and my goggles may have been fogged up a bit in the cold. That was Jump #84. Hopefully, I won't need it as much under 1,000 feet now that I have more experience. I just got a Neptune. I'm going to jump that with the illumination on and wear the Galaxy on my other wrist. Is there such a thing as too many altimeters?

What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy
ones? -- Monday.

[wmw999 2,587]

No such thing as too many altimeters.
Gaffers tape is basically duct tape.
There are little bitty chem-lites that you can get (people wear them as earrings). You can tape that to the top of your altimeter (tape all over it so that the light all shines down -- and don't cover a really important part). At least it works on an alti-2, which is what I have.
One thing you can consider if there will be several people on the load is a strobe on your helmet that you turn on after you deploy - that way airplanes can see you, and other jumpers under canopy. A chem-light on your riser might make it a little easier to find if you have a cutaway, too.
If you place your lights reasonably carefully, you can simply keep them under your arms etc.
Also, get a pin check on the ground before you get in. There's light that way, and there will be less flashing of lights to check stuff.

Have fun. I used to love night jumps.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[EvilLurker 2]

I'm not all that sure you want that many glow sticks, here's my reasoning: if you put them in your normal line of sight, they tend to degrade your night vision. I'd be careful about putting them on your hands, especially. One on each leg and one on your helmet sounds good, if you want more, maybe on the back of your helmet or legs? An illuminated altimeter, if you can round one up, would be great, but I found I could read mine just fine from the helmet-mounted stick. Red is the best color because your night vision is effected less by red light than any other color. My biggest fear on night jumps is a canopy collision, and to avoid that I want the best night vision I can get, which means avoiding looking at bright lights for about 30 minutes and not having a light source in my field of view while under canopy. If you're doing a two-way, have a plan with your partner about staggering your deployment altitudes and who will land first (high-opener holds some brakes and stays out of the pattern until they spot the low person, low person should be the one with higher W/L). That really reduces the collision factor. Be careful and have fun.

[EvilLurker 2]

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Is there such a thing as too many altimeters?

No, not on a night jump there isn't. If they don't agree, the low reading is the correct one.

[airtwardo 7]

I have a lot of night jumps and here are a few things I've found that work for me.

A small flat flashlight taped to your Helmet allows some light to be thrown in what ever direction you're looking.

I tape a 2 AA mini-mag light to the under side of my wrist, and just turn it on for a quick canopy check etc.
if you want to leave it on for the whole canopy ride, it actually helps illuminate the ground as your hands come down during the flare. I also only use a single wrap of black electrician tape on the front and back (top & bottom) of any flashlights or chem-lights attached to my arms or legs...it's more elastic that gaffers or duct tape, hence more comfortable...and it will more readily tear away should something snag on the object.

I have a small / slim, fast blinking LED that I slip into an elastic loop on the rear riser pointing up...this makes the whole canopy 'blink' ...looks really cool, and keeps the chance of a mid air to a minimum.

I have a small light from Para-gear that attaches to my Altimeter and does well at lighting up the face, but I've also used the small chem-lights taped again with black electrician tape at the 9 o'clock position.

I break and tape a red chem-lite onto the opposite rear riser that has the elastic loop for the blinking light. and pack it 'glowing' into the container. Helps find the main in event of a cut-away.

I 'zip-tie' a standard flashing beacon onto the the webbing at the side connect near the container, facing down...(Left side away from the deployment stuff)

I wear a loud whistle on a string around my neck, If you get hurt and are down...makes it much easier to attract attention and get assistance.

Keep all 'white' lights off in the aircraft, goggles clean and feet & knees together on landing...and have FUN!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[feuergnom 29]

as a sidenote: make sure_NOBODY_points any *@%&+-flashlight in your eyes or wave that darned thing around on your way to alti - that cost me my lasst nerves on the first nightjumps i did. there was no way to get them to turn 'em at least down

otherwise: enjoy the experience

The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle

dudeist skydiver # 666

[airtwardo 7]

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as a sidenote: make sure_NOBODY_points any *@%&+-flashlight in your eyes or wave that darned thing around on your way to alti - that cost me my lasst nerves on the first nightjumps i did. there was no way to get them to turn 'em at least down

otherwise: enjoy the experience

***

I hear ya!

That's why I said to keep ALL 'white' lights off in the aircraft...

I did a night jump once with a guy that had FIVE blinking beacons attached to his Protech helmet.....he turned them ALL on at once in the plane as we stood up to exit...It was like flash bulbs going off in my face!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[ninjaswooper 0]

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Is there such a thing as too many altimeters?

No, not on a night jump there isn't. If they don't agree, the low reading is the correct one.

I'd say you're better off with one (plus an audible), both of which you are confident in the accuracy thereof. The low reading is the correct one rule might keep you from smacking the ground, but vertical separation of groups in freefall and under canopy is a key to safe night jumps. If staggered deployments are used and you go by the low reading "rule" you could put yourself in an adverse situation (i.e., the low reading alti is the errant one, you pull, you don't smack ground, until jumper from above smacks you and you both smack ground).

[EvilLurker 2]

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i.e., the low reading alti is the errant one, you pull, you don't smack ground, until jumper from above smacks you and you both smack ground).

I've never seen an altimeter give a low reading, but I've seen them stick. I do check my altimeter before leaving the plane, though, to make sure it's not stuck at a lower altitude. I'd say if you have 2 altimeters and one says 8k while the other says 3, you had better be waving off instead of arguing with yourself and second guessing. If it's daytime, you have the "eyeball" option, of course.
I guess what you're describing could happen, but I've never heard of it.

[ninjaswooper 0]

Which is why the best scenario is one, which is known to be functional, plus a dytter (ever seen a dytter "stick"?) Not much room for second guessing there.

[EvilLurker 2]

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ever seen a dytter "stick"?

No, I have one, but can't ever hear it until I'm under canopy. I also had a Alti 2 that was known to be functional until the first time it stuck at 6k and my eyes said 3500. Thank God that wasn't on a night jump.

[monkycndo 0]

I was listening in on a conversation about locations to put glo sticks. Arms and legs were good and would normally be vertical in orientation, but these would not give you any idea if a person was heading towards or away from you. They suggested one on the chest strap mounted horizontally. That way, if you see a horizontal glo stick, that shadow ahead of you is heading towards you.

They also put the flashlight/strobe on their helmet with the flashlight facing forward and slightly up.They would turn it on in freefall. That way it was ready to check the canopy on opening.

Made sense to me.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[nate_1979 9]

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They also put the flashlight/strobe on their helmet with the flashlight facing forward and slightly up.They would turn it on in freefall. That way it was ready to check the canopy on opening.

Sounds fine if your jumping solo, but since I like having groups in freefall (including night jumps) you'd just blind everyone

And as a general note, I've used the neptune on all my night jumps, works great, no glow sticks or charging the Alti glow face to deal with

And, night jumps kick ass..

.. Also never covered the night sticks, nobody in the plane did on my jumps, dont think it really bothered me much.. the exit light that they still decided to use was much brigter than any night stick anyway (in the Pac 750)

FGF #???
I miss the sky...
There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.

[grue 1]

For what it's worth, the military puts one colour on the back, one on the front. This way, you can see which way someone is going.

cavete terrae.

[MarkM 0]

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.. Also never covered the night sticks, nobody in the plane did on my jumps, dont think it really bothered me much.. the exit light that they still decided to use was much brigter than any night stick anyway (in the Pac 750)

Never had a problem with glow sticks mucking up my vision in the plane either.

[kelpdiver 2]

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They also put the flashlight/strobe on their helmet with the flashlight facing forward and slightly up.They would turn it on in freefall. That way it was ready to check the canopy on opening.

I did that (Nate, it's doesn't have to be turned on in freefall), though the flashlight portion of mine broke 3 minutes onto the ground on the first jump. Strobe still fine. Need to try finding that tiny bulb.

In Davis I found the city lights more than bright enough to see the canopy well, even without the moon above the horizon yet.

Anyone using the battery chem lights instead of the cyalumes? Aside from the waste factor, I find them more reliable and they can be turned on just before jump run. Costs only about $10.

[SwampThing 0]

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And as a general note, I've used the neptune on all my night jumps, works great

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ALL??

How many do you HAVE?!

The Pessimist says: "It can't possibly get any worse!"
The Optimist says: "Sure it can!"

[mjosparky 4]

Just something to think about. Chem lights don't qualify.

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§ 105.19 Parachute operations between sunset and sunrise.
(a) No person may conduct a parachute operation, and no pilot in command of an aircraft may allow a person to conduct a parachute operation from an aircraft between sunset and sunrise, unless the person or object descending from the aircraft displays a light that is visible for at least 3 statute miles.

(b) The light required by paragraph (a) of this section must be displayed from the time that the person or object is under a properly functioning open parachute until that person or object reaches the surface.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[tdog 0]

My last night jump, I wanted a flashlight handy... No moon, I was on my own with only the city lights to help me out... Landing out was a worry... Using it to see a problem with the canopy was another with no moon. (one in which is a very slow mal where there is time, etc)

So, I took a maglight flashlight, the two AA battery model... I had a lanyard that is used for a company ID to hang around ones neck at work... I took that lanyard and hooked it to the flashlight. Tied the lanyard around my leg strap, and stuffed the flashlight in the strap... Upon opening, I reached down, pulled it out, and turned it on and inspected the canopy real quick... Then I left it on and it dangled from my leg focused straight down...

The people on the ground said I was the most visible skydiver in the air without blinding them... And on landing, it lit the ground under me, so I could see the exact distance I was above the ground with no shadow issues... I would do it again...

[JENNR8R 0]

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Just something to think about. Chem lights don't qualify.

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§ 105.19 Parachute operations between sunset and sunrise.
(a) No person may conduct a parachute operation, and no pilot in command of an aircraft may allow a person to conduct a parachute operation from an aircraft between sunset and sunrise, unless the person or object descending from the aircraft displays a light that is visible for at least 3 statute miles.

(b) The light required by paragraph (a) of this section must be displayed from the time that the person or object is under a properly functioning open parachute until that person or object reaches the surface.

Sparky

Thanks Sparky - I'm planning on using a strobe flashlight that is advertised as being visible for three statute miles in addition to the glow sticks. On my first night jump I tied a long string to one, attached it to my chest strap, stuffed it inside my jumpsuit, and pulled the zipper up. When the canopy opened, I unzipped the jumpsuit, took the light out, turned it on, and dropped it. The light dangled below me from the long string so that my body would not obstruct the light from any direction. The only problem with this scenario was that I butt landed and the strobe flew up and hit me on my mouth. It didn't matter. The adrenaline rush was incredible.

What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy
ones? -- Monday.

[anewempire 0]

night jumps seem so ridiculously awesome. do you just need an A license to be able to do them or do you have to have your B license?

[nate_1979 9]

Some DZs say have 50 jumps and meet the requirements for a 'B' license.. Some say you gotta have a 'B' .... My DZ requires the B license. Seen both. I'm sure some other DZs have different rules... The SIM also says something about it.

FGF #???
I miss the sky...
There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.

[mjosparky 4]

NEVER, NEVER tie anything to you or your harness with a lanyard. More than one person has died because of this.

Take, it with the lanyard and put it inside of your jumpsuit or in a pocket. A flash light can be taped to your arm or to the top of your helmet.

Sparky